Intel denies holding back USB 3.0 specification

Last week AMD and Nvidia were blasting Intel for allegedly trying to keep the USB 3.0 spec to itself in a bid to lock customers into its chipsets. In a recent blog post, however, the company’s Nick Knupffer voices his opinion on the recent controversy and tries to set the record straight on USB 3.0.

Knupffer admits that there are, indeed, two separate standards being developed. He vehemently denies, however, that the company is trying to keep the USB 3.0 specification from the rest of the industry, saying it is not owned by Intel and that they’re merely a part of the USB 3.0 Promoter Group which already includes other giants such as Texas Instruments, Microsoft, HP and NEC.

Intel did note that it is holding onto the development of a USB 3.0-compatible host controller design, in which the company is investing heavily and wants to make sure it is robust enough before sharing it to prevent any major hardware conflicts. He calls this specification a sort of “Dummies Guide” on how to build a compatible USB 3.0 piece of silicon, adding that the entire spec will be available for free later in 2008.